


Speak to Me

by Heroic_Euphoria



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon), 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Childbirth, F/M, Family Drama, Flashbacks, Grief/Mourning, Guilt, Heavy Angst, Human/Vampire Relationship, Love, Married Couple, Parenthood, Self-Reflection, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 18:11:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18856357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heroic_Euphoria/pseuds/Heroic_Euphoria
Summary: In the walls of a lonely castle library, Vlad Tepes grieves the loss of his wife, Lisa. Object after object speaks to him, conjuring memories of a past destroyed at the stake. These memories come in quick succession, pulling at him as he teeters in the gray area between man and monster.





	Speak to Me

**Author's Note:**

> Sentences in italics are meant to represent Vlad's thoughts. Enjoy! :)

_She said to me,_

_“If you would love me as man,_

_Then live as a man._

_Travel as a man.”_

Loud clatters in Vlad Tepes’ mind wouldn’t leave him be. It was a botched symphony, cut to shreds by one boisterous, screeching aria. The pages to books on his desk opened and turned by themselves, Vlad’s back to them as he stared out the moonlit window. There was no purpose to shuffling papers in such a way, but the sound of turning pages was more pleasant than listening to his own vile commentary. His world had already ended in burnt taters and scorched wood, the only task left to bear the anguish through was to tear the rest of the landscape down with him by the claws.

Desperation was nothing new to the acquainted Vlad. The bouts came and went, the ebb and flow of agelessness. In the ebb of his rage, he’d stand at the window and wait. He had not yet made any heinous actions towards the others, but he was teetering close to the edge. He had promised a year, and a year was what he would hold to. He had warned them, what more could he do? It was a generous offer enough, according to his logic. Now the wait had begun. It had only been one month.

_I’ll always be waiting._

If he were to live as a man, then he would wait as one. Just as a man, his efforts of waiting for that which would never come were fruitless. Now he understood what wretched men felt when they grieved. Memories lingered at every corridor, every shadow spoke out to him. It was tormenting. He tried to avoid a great deal of things, but there were reminders at every turn. The frantic page turning only manifested another past, speaking out as if begging not to be forgotten. Vlad closed his eyes, unable to block the images from his mind.

“Hah! I’ve finally found it!” Lisa exclaimed, quickly flipping through book pages. “This is the compound I was searching for!”

“Why search for the notation of this specific compound?” Vlad asked, peering over his wife’s shoulder.

“If my work thus far has been correct, adding this compound to the fertilizer will allow the plants to grow larger and faster than before.” Lisa pointed to a clay pot filled with dark soil. “I’m going to experiment with it using a sunflower seed.”

“Why search for a way to make a large sunflower when there’s already one right here?” Vlad teased lovingly, squeezing her shoulder. Lisa playfully rolled her eyes.

“Your romantic sappiness never ceases to amaze me.”

“You love it all the same.”

“Of course.” Lisa tinkered with a few glass bottles. She poured her compound into the soil and put her hands on her hips in triumph. “There. Now we wait.”

Vlad bore down on his lip with one of his sharp fangs as the picture in his mind faded. Blood bubbled at the intrusion. He licked it away, sensing the unappealing taste of his own bloodletting, and touched his tongue to the wound. It sealed and faded away. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a tall, color-faded sunflower. He had been able to preserve it with one of his own experimental endeavors, though at the cost of some of its vibrancy. It had achieved a monotone agelessness, just as he did. Lisa had named it _Subject Zero_ , as it was the first in many of her fertilization experiments. She should have named it Vlad.

The dull, looming sunflower in the library corner crowded Vlad, though it was at the other end of the room. He wrapped one of his hands around a crimson, velvet curtain, his elongated nails scratching at it. The flower was dead, it had stopped exhibiting any sign of functionality long, long ago. Now it was collecting dust. Even so, it spoke louder and more boisterous than it had ever done before.  The images wouldn’t cease, yet another droplet of a decaying past, only one half of it keeping it alive.

_In these walls I still hear your heartbeat._

“It worked, Vlad!” Lisa exclaimed, running her fingertips across the vibrant palette of colors on the sunflower. She smiled in her triumph, yet still held a soft, thoughtful demeanor. “This grew in only half the time it usually takes. Do you what this could mean for herbs? Crop? Medicines to help the sick can be made plentiful.”

Vlad smiled softly at her. He sensed the beat of her heart, which thumped wildly in her excitement. There weren't many situations he heard her circulation react in such a manner; one was the thrill of successful experiments, the other when he gave her a lover’s sensual touch. “The yields of this experiments certainly opens a lot of doors,” he said.

“Of course. Perhaps I can expand on these experiments. It can branch off in so many different directions! Isn’t this exciting?!”

“It certainly--” Vlad halted at the sense of a rapid thrum in the forefront of his mind. “--is.”

Lisa furrowed her brows at his sudden change in demeanor. She turned her body so she was facing him, the sunflower behind her shoulder. “Is there something the matter?”

The thrum got louder, but was still on the quiet side. Vlad narrowed his brows, searching for any clues to indicate its source. He shook his head, bringing one of his hands to rest at his chin. The natural moonlight scattered pale shadows across the darker side of the laboratory. There was a subtle trail of soil from where Lisa had carried the potted plant from the window to the worktable. There were no ticking machines, no bubbling alchemy bottles. Vlad was genuinely perplexed, which, in turn, perplexed him further. He was not an easily confused man.

“I sense a rapid thrum in here,” he said. “I don’t suppose you can hear it…”

Lisa shook her head. “No, I don’t hear anything. Is it my heartbeat?”

“No. I can sense your heart. It’s much faster than your heartbeat. Did you leave something out in the open? A potion or…” Vlad stopped, at a loss on what else to say. Lisa squinted her gaze in thought, then shook her head again.

“No, Vlad. I haven’t taken any supplies out yet.” She paused, an epiphany coming to her bright eyes. “Maybe it’s the plant!”

Vlad strode over to the other side of his wife, leaning down to study the plant. The thrum was still pulsing away in his mind, the consistency of it a bit unnerving. He could easily shut the noise out, but he couldn’t let it go until he discovered the culprit of such a steady, quick beat. It was unlike anything he had ever sensed before, which only added to his intrigue. There wasn’t much that could surprise someone as old and experienced as him. After a moment, Vlad concluded the plant was not responsible. He leaned back with a stark shake of his head.

“It’s not the plant,” he mused aloud. His eyes widened when his arm swiped along hers. A revelation came to him as he stepped in front of her. His gazed scanned her physique with fervor. “You! It’s coming from you!” he exclaimed.

Lisa stiffened, leaning back against the worktable. “Me? What do you mean it’s coming from _me?_ ”

Vlad pressed his hands to Lisa’s head, pressing his thumbs at her brow. She stared at him, confusion and worry rooted deep in her eyes. His hands fell to her shoulders, then across her breast, which she flushed at, and down her abdomen. He crouched on one knee, the thrum now boisterous in his mind. He pressed his thumbs to a small sliver of skin in between her hips.

“It’s right here,” he said, rubbing his fingertips into the fabric of her dress. “The thrum is coming from here. But why?”

Lisa gazed down at him. She licked her lip. “What is it, my abdomen? Perhaps it’s my digestive track.”

“No, no,” Vlad replied, shaking his head. His perplexity mixed with worry when he found the source of the noise was coming from his wife. He tried to sort through archives of information in his head at a nauseating speed. Nothing was coming to him right away. “It’s lower than that. It’s between your hips.”

“Vlad, are you _sure_ it’s not just the chocolate pastry we shared at supper?” she chuckled, trying her best to lighten the situation. Normally, he would’ve chuckled, but he was too engrossed in his own thoughts to respond to her sentiment.   

“Digestion doesn’t sound like this. It’s like a heartbeat but faster…” Vlad bolted off his knee and took a step back. Shock sprouted in his eyes, his hand coming to his mouth. “That can’t be!”

“What?!” Lisa asked, her voice edging near frantic. “You’re starting to scare me.”

Vlad began to pace, his boots clicking against the floor and his cape rushing behind him. “No, no, that’s not possible...It’s folklore! _Folklore!”_

“What?!” Lisa exclaimed, grabbing the end of his cape as it trailed by. He halted and turned his head to look at her. “Will you please tell me what you’re going on about?” she said, anxiety in her eyes.

“Dhampirs,” he finally said. “Half vampire, half human children. It’s folklore. Human men sometimes pretend to be vampires to allure women they desire. They often keep this false persona, resulting in what’s believed to be dhampirs, but are simply typical human offspring. As such, _it’s folklore._ ”

Lisa stayed silent a moment. She squeezed his cape in her fist. “Are you trying to say I’m pregnant?”

Vlad stiffened at the words. “It’s not possible,” he reiterated.

“Then why are you rambling on about it?” she whispered.

“I’ve never seen a true dhampir. Most vampires dismiss them as fictitious, one of many human myths that surround our kind.”

“Just because you’ve never seen it before doesn’t mean it’s not possible.” She let go of his cape. “We both know that.”

“What other evidence do we have?”

Lisa sighed. She flexed her fingers. “I’ve missed two of my cycles now. I’ve been trying to figure out why. I never considered a pregnancy because you said it wasn’t possible…”

“Perhaps I stand corrected…” Vlad swallowed. “Is there some sort of test you can perform?”

“Yes. I-I’ll do it now.”

Vlad paced until Lisa returned. Time often passed quickly for him, but this half-hour ticked on like decades. His boots clicked along the marble floor, the remnants of that quick thrum replaying in his mind constantly. He was still trying to wrap his mind around _how_ it would be possible for him to play part in the creation of a child.  He always assumed he had nothing that could contribute to such a thing, yet here he stood second guessing _everything_ he had ever come to know.

Lisa entered the room again. He turned, her eyes a mix of anticipation and _joy?_ Bright, gleaming joy, the sort of gaze she had when her experiments went to plan, when she discovered something new. Vlad clenched his hands into fists.

“Vlad…” she said, a small smile on her face. “We--We’re going to be parents!”

At the sound of those words, he froze. He was a creature of the night, the most powerful one, to his knowledge. Yet, where had his knowledge gotten him? Here stood his smiling wife, carrying within her the quickened heartbeat of a child that was theirs. He was incredulous. He pushed and pulled at his mind in disbelief at how he had lead her astray on such a life-altering occurrence. There was still trepidation scurrying around in his body, and it made him feel as a human would.

“Lisa, I’m sorry,” he said. “This is unheard of. I shouldn’t have taken anything for granted. I should’ve implored we use proper precautions. If you do not want to see this to fruition, I understand.”

Lisa took a step back, the smile gone from her lips. “I don’t want to stop this from happening.” She paused. “Do you?”

Vlad swallowed, the act sharp against his throat. He fiddled with the band on his ring finger. “N-No…” he nearly whispered.

Lisa smiled again as if the last short snippet of their conversation had never taken place. “You heard our child’s heartbeat. Isn’t that incredible? I wonder when they’ll be born. Will the mix of heritage impact development? Let us not forget a nursery!”

Vlad smiled at her endless questioning. He strode over to her, quietly wrapping her in an embrace. Her touch was warm against the cold of his skin, the thrum once again in his mind. There was nothing he could speak, for all his words were snatched the moment she had confirmed his suspicions. He hoped his silent act would show her what he wanted to say, what he feared to say, and let his unspoken sentiments come through.

The moonlight burned Vlad’s unblinking eyes as he shook his head to rid himself on the recollection. Images of old times wouldn’t leave him be, for they lurked at every corner and sprung forward with every step he took. It had progressed the point where he could stand in place, just as he was at the window, and the would find him and infiltrate at their own accord. All he had to do was wait and they would come. Vlad put his hands behind the small of his back and paced the grand expanse of the library. His shoulder dragged along the shelving, kicking up dust that dispersed into the air. He sniffed at the sight, though small inconsequential things such as that were no bother to him.

He halted at the sight of one peculiar shelf. It looked the same as the others aside from one subtle details only seen when right in front of it. Vlad stopped in front of it, the shelves reaching a few heads above him, giving way to the rounded ceiling. Plated with artisan gold designs, the patterns of the ceiling sparkled in the subtle artificial light of the candles lit on the chandelier above. The shadows of the light added to his solmenness as it highlighted the indentations on the wood of the shelf in front of him. They were in a place between shallow and deep, dust burrowing into the scratch marks. They were from claw-like nails, nails that scratched for a book in a haste. It was no mystery to Vlad, for he was responsible for them. He tried to close his eyes and shut out the recollection coming to him. It was a fruitless venture, for this particular memory was one of the most potent he had ever experienced. He let his nails slide along the scratches, a soft noise echoing in his ears that gave way to the panicked gestures of an age long past.

_We are one breath apart, my love._

Never before had the edge of life been so harrowing. Vlad hadn’t broken a sweat in nearly four centuries, yet this encounter was testing him. He had brought victims to the brink of death and let them wither to undead narcosis, he had brought them to the brink only to let them crawl back to life. The difference now was none of those victims had been his wife and none of them had been accidental. Now, here he was at the limit of what even someone of his stature could handle.

Vlad scrambled from place to place, tinkering with bottles and pouring spoonfuls of tinctures and elixirs. Glass clattered, books were shuffled, and sheets were rumpled. Lisa was quiet in her agony, the only audible reminder of her suffering the exerted breaths she let go in intervals. Vlad returned to her bedside and set a bottle down on the nightstand. She laid on her hip with her hands snaked under a pillow damp with her perspiration. Vlad crouched on his knees with furrowed brows. Lisa watched his shaking hand as he poured a liquid on a large spoon and held it to her face.

“Here,” he said, “it’ll help combat the fever.”

Lisa nodded and took the spoon in her mouth. He pulled the spoon away and let it drop to the nightstand. His gentle hand brushed her hair from face, his wife closing her eyes. Her fever was steadily going down with every medicinal dosage, which took the edge off one of his many worries. However, every worry cut away sprouted double, adding to the multiplying chaos in his mind.

Vlad couldn’t help but blame himself when Lisa squeezed the fabric of the bed and curled in on herself in pain. He was the one who told her it wasn’t possible. Was he arrogant for having done that? Ignorant? Or, perhaps, self-indulgent for wishing to see where this lead? He reminded himself she had wanted this also. He had given her the choice and she had made it. At the moment, he didn’t have the time to ponder the web of circumstances further.

“Don’t hold your breath,” he said softly, rubbing her shoulder. “Breathe through the pain.”

Lisa inhaled a sharp breath, opening her eyes again. Her fingers brushed over his at her shoulder. “Thank you,” she said. “In the haze I’ve forgotten all we learned in preparation. I’ll need reminders.”

“I’m here. Tell me what you need and I’ll fetch it for you.” Vlad rose off his knees, his face paler than usual. “May I look?”

She nodded and shifted so she was on her back. He peered under her skirt and frowned. Lisa let her head fall back on the pillow, her eyes skirting across the bed canopy. She didn’t voice her disappointed frustration, but he saw it before he had spoken a word.

“Your progress has been minimal since the last time I looked,” he said, rising off the bed. “I’m going to make the mixture that’s said to help speed thing along. Are you ready for it?”

Lisa gave a silent nod of approval. Vlad left the bedside to return to his medicinal spread at the table on the far wall, resuming his tinkering once again. He had kept a calm demeanor thus far, and it was a genuine surprise to him. There were many factors to their situation that put him on edge; the fever, the lack of progression, the unexpected timing which had coming upon them at nightfall. Yet, the one thing that rattled him the most was her quiet demeanor. He was prepared for her to groan, whimper, or even curse at the top of her lungs in pure agony. There was none of that. Only silence.

To an ignorant ear pressed against the chamber door, it wouldn’t have been obvious she was in labor and had been for some time. The hours had ticked by slowly, and in one split second of delirium Vlad swore he saw the hands of the clock spinning around at an uncontrollable speed. When he blinked it dissipated and he returned to managing the surreal situation he found himself in.

Vlad was a man of science. Lisa was a woman of science. This was one of the reasons they had tumbled into love and marriage. They were devotees of logic and reason, of facts and experimentation. The best weapon to wield was knowledge, they both agreed.  They had both armed themselves to the teeth with knowledge in preparation for this. However, currently his emotions were battling for control. Vlad understood when emotions conquered, knowledge and reason drowned in the undertow. Yet, he was having difficulty fighting it off as time passed.

The couple had reasoned and reasoned long before this moment. They had no way of knowing how a half-blood would look in appearance at birth or how it would influence birth itself. Calling in help from the outside would be dangerous for them and their child. If it were discovered the child’s true parentage, a human-lead witch hunt would commence. They couldn’t call upon Vlad’s constituents, they were creatures of the night, of death and undeath, they had no dealings in the commencement of life. Drawing these conclusions, it was up to them and them alone to handle their situation. So they indulged in book after book for when the time came.

When the time came for their child to be born, Vlad was more than ready. He pushed his fears aside, his logic winning dominance over his emotions. He drew his supplies and took his place at the bedside with a slight shake still his hand. Despite this, his calm demeanor was still in tact.

Lisa struggled. Vlad could only encourage her with words that seemed shallow to him when compared to her agony. He didn’t have much else to give her. His love for her had contributed to this suffering and it ailed him deep down. He didn’t time to ponder his guilt, but it was budding in his mind as time dragged on.

It was silent as usual until Lisa groaned in terrible pain. Vlad startled at this, the audible sign of her suffering putting fear in the pits of his existence. It disrupted the cobwebs of long-dormant emotions within and put a spark of humanity back inside him. He bit his lip with a sharp fang.

“Just a little more, my love,” he encouraged.

Lisa grabbed a loose strand of her hair. “V-Vlad, I--”

“You’re not one to give up, Lisa,” he interrupted, anticipating her words. “Just a little more.”

Lisa listened, and the next moment Vlad was holding  a pale newborn in his hands. Emotions won dominance over him. A frantic voice in him debated whether or not his child should have this complexion, for all the knowledge he had gained said the child should at least have a flush. Or did it? Vlad couldn’t decide anymore as he stared at his newborn. His lifted his head to meet Lisa’s wide eyes. He scrambled, leaning forward to place the baby on her chest.

“Lisa, it’s a boy!” he exclaimed, not sure what to do next. “It’s a beautiful boy.”

Lisa smiled weakly at the boy in her arms. He squirmed and began a soft whimper that shifted to a newborn wail. Vlad faltered, relief filling his eyes with crimson. He blinked it away when Lisa lulled. She shook her head in an attempt to wake herself up.

“Vlad, take him,” she whispered. “Take Adrian.”

Vlad took the baby in his arms again. He studied his wife’s form, only to notice the crimson coming from her and staining the already soiled sheets. He set the child beside his mother on the bed and took a closer look. She was bleeding more than she should, even though his vehement emotions he was able to discern that much. Her body couldn’t handle losing much more after the strain it had been through.  He stared at her as her eyes closed.

“Lisa?!” he called to her. She shook her head.

“Vlad…” she trailed, her voice weak. “Where’s Adrian?”

“He’s right beside you, love.”

“He’s so beautiful, Vlad.”

Vlad stood. He wiped his hands on a towel in a haste, unsure what exactly he was doing. It was clear his wife was completely unaware she was edging death. Vlad had read about these sorts of situations over the months. He had armed himself to the teeth with knowledge. Yet, where was it now? It had fled when his emotions began their reign. Time was of the essence, but Vald was stuck in place watching Lisa lull and their baby wiggle beside her.

If she was a victim of an agonizing death, he would become the victim of his agonizing rage.

Something within him willed action out of him. He took a step towards the door, then turned around. “I’ll be right back, Lisa,” he said.

Lisa hummed. “Alright, my love.”

Vlad appeared before the shelves in the library in an instant. He ran along the shelves, searching for a group of books he had frequented over the months. He found the one he was looking for and yanked it off the shelf. Indentations appeared from where his nails scratched the wood in his vigor. He flipped the book open and shuffled through the pages in a panic.

“Tell me how to make it stop,” he mumbled. “Tell me how to make it stop!”

The book held no answers for his predicament. He cursed himself and the inked pages. With a grimace, he threw the book across the room, cracking the binding. He reappeared at Lisa’s side. He leaned over her and sensed her heartbeat weakening to a deathly slow pace.

“Lisa?” he whispered. She only hummed again in response.  He caught sight of her neck, then the crimson of the sheets. Never before had the sight of blood been so abhorrent. Vlad was a lord of the night, a macabre creature of bloodletting and gore, but this scene was truly egregious.

Vlad made a split second decision. He bit down on his lip, drawing his own blood and coating it with his fangs. He leaned in and settled his teeth at her neck. He bore down into her skin and let his fangs sink him. He drew none of her blood, rather let his drip into her. She had an explicit wish to stay human, and Vlad respected it. However, they were merely one breath apart. All Vlad had to do was inhale and draw some of her blood and they would be the same. He pulled away from her and wiped a trickle of blood from the neck.

He had always been aware vampiric blood in small doses could heal a human. Before now, he never had a reason to put it to use. Now he was met with the grey edges of life and death. There was a fine, thread-thin line between healing and turning, and Vlad was treading on it. He waited for results, tending to his newborn son to help cope with his trepidation.

Vlad inhaled as he came back the present. He hadn’t realized he had leaned his forehead against the bookshelf until he opened his eyes again. Reliving his son’s birth always filled him with a sense of urgency, as if he needed to act out at that very moment. Of course, in hindsight, Lisa recovered, all thanks to his quick thinking. That knowledge didn’t rid him of the urge to pace around in the aftermath of experiencing that memory all over again. After Lisa had regained consciousness and learned what happened, she thanked him for his diligence. He asked why, and she said he was diligent to act enough to save her, and respect her wishes of remaining human all the same. It caused a peculiar feeling to settle in his bones which had never left him.

_We are one breath apart, my love,_

_and I’ll be holding it in till we’re together._

Even now, as he paced the solemn library, they only seemed a breath apart. If he just ceased his breathing, he wondered if it would be enough to reunite them. Despite his wandering thoughts, his logic knew the answers to all the inquiries his begging emotions put forth. For every factual conclusion came grief doubling his scorn.

Sometimes to spit in the face of his logic, he’d hold his breath for as long as he willed it. It never worked to bring forth his wishes. It only brought forth more rage.

Vlad paced the library until he came to the sofa. The red velvet collected lint and dust, that which Vlad these days didn’t care to keep away. His library seemed archaic with age, all due to his lack of will to tidy. He had servants that would do it for him, but he rathered they stay out of his business as much as possible. Upon the fabric was a long, thin strand of blonde hair. Vlad clenched his teeth. A fleeting thought in voice not his own came to him,

 _You will never be alone._   

It echoed in Vlad’s mind as he circled the sofa and sat upon it. His recollections were tormenting him now. He had his memories of Lisa, of his beautiful Lisa, the one only alive in his mind. However, this voice was still near. This voice was amongst him, and he had squandered every chance to keep its comforting presence close at hand. It filled Vlad with dread and remorse as another bit of decaying past entered his mind, one still held by another other than him.

Vlad paced the halls of his castle. He had dismissed all subordinates from this wing, not having the temperament to deal with them. He paced and paced and _paced_ , grief drowning his sensibilities.  He had already warned the culprits responsible for his agony. It had only been a few hours since everything had transpired, the moments shifting from turbulent to slow. The image of Lisa’s burnt village home seared into his skull. He had begged her to return to the castle every night, but that was not to her preference. She preferred to stay in the village for short bouts of treating the ill, then return to the castle to study. Sometimes Vlad accompanied her, other times he was busy tending to other things.

The time he was not with her is the time she was taken from him. He traveled to the home he built her as a man, and left it a demon. To say he was raging was an understatement. At the moment, however, his rage was piled under worry. He stopped pacing when the door at the end of hall opened. He met the entrance before the other figure was fully through it.

“Where have you _been_ , Adrian?!” Vlad scolded, anger burning his tongue. “I’ve been waiting for you to return for hours.”

“I’m grown,” Adrian replied. His tone was weak, yet agitated. “There’s no need to crawl down my back.”

“I am your _father_ and I will crawl down your back whenever I damn well please!” he retorted. “Do you have any idea what has transpired today?”

Adrian’s eyes fell to the floor. “Yes,” he whispered. _“M-Mother…”_

Vlad’s teeth clenched at seeing his son’s pain. He was full of the same hurt, yet it angered him even more to witness it inflicted upon his son as well. The image of him holding Adrian in a chair by the fireplace the morning he was born came to him. He had watched Lisa’s weakened form, wondering if he’d be alone with a son.

Now here he was. Alone with a son who looked as if he’d been tormented. Blood stained Adrian’s shirt in droplets, brought on by the crimson tears he had inherited from his father. His hair was wind blown. Ash coated his boots and pants. A part of Vlad wanted to further press the issue of where he had been, but he honestly didn’t care to know the answer. He was home and that was all that mattered to him at the moment.

“A-Adrian…” Vlad said, his voice weak. “They burned her alive, Adrian!”

“I know, Father…” Adrian choked on his words. “I didn’t...I couldn’t...I…”

“Don’t blame yourself. This was not your doing.” Vlad rested his hand on Adrian’s shoulder. He bit his lip with his fang, trying and failing to hold back his grief. “I’ve worried about you all day. I thought, perhaps...they had gotten to you too. I knew they were killing my wife, but I couldn’t find out if they were...killing my boy.”

Remorse fell upon Adrian’s face. He embraced his father. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m so sorry, Father…”

Vlad embraced back. He held onto his son as if he might be stolen from him. “They killed her, Adrian. They killed my wife.” he mumbled, his voice full of defeat and anguish.

“She suffered an agonizing death…” Adrian shook his head. His breath hitched. “She only wanted to help them! I don’t understand…”

The words Adrian spoke went over Vlad’s head. He was so engrossed in the fact his son was in his arms nothing else was getting through him. He had ailed and ailed over him, worried he was getting murdered. Now he was safe, Vlad’s grief took control over all his facilities. He was Lisa’s greatest gift to him, a product of their ardent intimacy. He couldn’t allow him to suffer a similar fate.

“Don’t wander beyond the castle, Adrian,” Vlad begged. “Please stay close. Don’t leave me here alone to wonder about you.”

“I won’t,” Adrian said. _“You will never be alone, Father._ I’m right here.”

Vlad shook his head as his mind’s eyes returned to the library. In moments of reprieve from his rage, he would be overcome with bouts of remorse. Remorse coursed through him until he hungered for bloodletting, the reprise of his malignancy upon him once again. He had made a liar out of his own son. Adrian promised his father would never be alone, yet here Vlad was. It was Vlad’s fault, for when he was raging Adrian had warned him to stop. He said he wouldn’t allow a ravaging of the land. That’s when Vlad lost himself, lunging out at his own son and injuring him. Now he was far underground, locked in a coffin where he couldn’t speak to him. He remembered their short conversation all too clear:

_No._

_What do you mean, no? That woman was the only reason on Earth for me to tolerate human life!_

Vlad’s attention turned to the piano playing a tune all on its own. He didn’t remember commanding it to play something, but in moments of pure delirium he couldn’t be sure of anything. The keys pressed methodically in tempo and rhythm. It was a piece Vlad recognized as _Bloody Tears._ He had no recollection of who composed it, it could’ve been him for all he knew. He couldn’t find it in books of music sheets, or journals of his own work. Perhaps the piano conjured it on its own, drawing on the grief Vlad had spent so much time with inside the library’s walls.

The melancholic tune continued. A mirror at the other side of the room stared Vlad down. He couldn’t see himself in its reflection, but he swore he saw Lisa brushing through her hair in its frame. It was her mirror, after all. He had fetched it for her when she mentioned not having one in the castle. Vlad rose and came to stand at the mirror. A single crimson tear fell down his cheek. He touched his nails to the mirror, wishing he could somehow touch Lisa again through it.

It reflected back an image of the sofa and the shelves behind him, but not him. He continued to paw at the mirror, the tune repeating itself. Lisa’s humanity always came through the reflection of this mirror. Yet, when Vlad stepped in front of it, it was silent. With the touch of his hand, his true form was clear to him. The point at which the mirror met his reflection-less hand was where Vlad Tepes ceased and Dracula began. This was proof enough he was not a man.

_No longer do I travel as a man._

Dracula left the mirror and walked to the window. The moon was still high and the valleys dark. His nails scratched at the velvet red curtains as he peered out over the landscape. He thought of the villages beyond, of forests and plains alike, and his seething commenced once again. He licked his lip and bared his teeth in a snarl of hatred. No manner of necromancy would bring her back to him, he had tried. He had tried to will Death to his command, yet it wouldn’t bend to him. It couldn’t. Of all the power Dracula, the Lord of Darkness, held, he could not manipulate life and death in Lisa's favor. He could only create anew with her and destroy the future in her memory, not reanimate their past together. Only one of those two choices was present to him now.

It only added to his rage.

Dracula summoned two of his subordinates to his side. They waited in attention for their master to order them into action. Dracula lifted his head to the sky and took note of the clear, quiet weather. The moon and stars were in full reign, not a cloud in sight. He licked his fangs and changed form into a bat. The two subordinates mimicked him. Dracula flew through the glass of the window and it shattered, shards raining down to the castle grounds below. As he traveled, he communicated a simple message to his hellions:

_Let us go out this evening for pleasure. The night is still young._

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, thanks for reading my story! :)
> 
> Some of Vlad's thoughts are actually lyrics of the song "Speak to Me" by Amy Lee (the song inspired this story, hence my title lol). If you recognized that as the case, then you found out my secret! 
> 
> Also, when Vlad mentions men pretending to be vampires to allure women, I actually read that on the Dhampir wikipedia page. I thought it would be an interesting detail to add. I don't know where I got the idea that small amounts of vampire blood can heal humans. Part of me feels like I read that in vampire fiction somewhere, the other part of me feels like I just made that up. I have no idea, but I hope it works! 
> 
> I love Vlad as a character as well as an antagonist. I like it most when you get the conflicted feeling of not wanting to see them defeated. We can resonate with holding love for family, so we can understand why he reacted the way he did, though that's not to say it was morally sound. I wanted to write a piece that really just focused on him and his thoughts, and how he interacts with his past and present. I enjoyed working on this piece, I hope it's enjoyable to read! :) Feel free to let me know your thoughts and thanks for reading! <3


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